How to Pick Harmonics
A pinched harmonic, often referred to as a picked harmonic because you use a pick to get the harmonic, is a technique used by guitar players to create artificial harmonics on guitar. Harmonics can add color to a guitar solo and sound good at high volumes when you pick the harmonic in such a way that it produces a clean, pure sound. Harmonics are used by guitar players in many musical genres. For example, it can be heard frequently on the "Eliminator" album by ZZ Top.
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Instructions
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Turn your amp up loud and set it to a slightly distorted channel. Raise the treble control all the way and set the bass tone halfway. It's possible to get pinched harmonics regardless of the tone settings and even on a clean channel, but these settings produce a pure ringing harmonic.
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Hold your pick as close to the tip as possible, grasping it between your thumb and index finger. Place the pick against the string where you want to produce a picked harmonic and play the string. Pick the string and bend your wrist slightly as you do, moving the pick away from the strings and allowing your thumb to come to rest against the string you just picked. This will cancel the fundamental note and allow the string's overtone to ring out, creating a picked harmonic.
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Run your pick along the strings of your guitar to put tiny grooves in the edge of the pick, then play a passage on your guitar as you normally would. Whenever you want to do a picked harmonic, turn your pick sideways with the grooves facing your strings. Play the strings with the grooved side. The effect of the strings catching on the grooves will produce a high-pitched harmonic.
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